Opposition Slate Organizes In Orland

Traffic, Mall Among Key Issues

January 16, 2001|By Patricia Trebe. Special to the Tribune.

It took just one week for a mix of political veterans and newcomers to form a slate of candidates for Orland Park board positions, and on Monday, the group filed their petitions for the April 3 municipal elections.

The Citizen's Advocate Party of Orland Park will field a slate of candidates that includes Jim Holton and Tom Mulvey, known for their vocal opposition to the proposed Main Place shopping mall development on 143rd Street and La Grange Road. Holton and Mulvey, along with local attorney John Fotopoulos, are running for trustee seats. The slate also includes Gerald Maher for mayor and former Village Board trustee Penny O'Sullivan for clerk.

The group will be running against Mayor Dan McLaughlin, Village Clerk David Mahar and trustees Kathy Fenton, Brad O'Halloran and James Dodge.

"We have been hearing about them trying to put a slate together for a long time ... It would be out of the ordinary to not have opposition in a town this big," McLaughlin said Monday.

In the coming weeks, the Citizen's Advocate Party slate members said they will release a series of position papers. They have targeted traffic, economic development and health, safety and welfare as their main issues, they said.

Traffic and economic development are two key concerns that Maher said he heard from residents as he went door-to-door this past weekend.

"More often than not, it was traffic that concerned residents. And I heard people talking about development and whether or not we are going in the right direction or are we going to be another Schaumburg," Maher said, referring to the explosive growth experienced by that municipality.

"We are not trying to be secretive about our positions, but we have come together rather quickly and we have yet to work out some of the specifics. We intend to hold a series of meetings and talk to groups to get their input," Holton said.

Maher said he was approached two weeks ago and the slate was put together last week.

"I met Jim for the first time two weeks ago and Penny O'Sullivan one week ago ... But I think each of us brings a lot to the table," Maher said.

Maher has worked on several political campaigns and unsuccessfully ran for senator in the 28th District in 1978. He has lived in Orland Park for 21 years and is a vice president with a south suburban mortgage company.

O'Sullivan served on the Village Board from 1981 to 1989 and ran against McLaughlin in 1997.

Holton and Mulvey are co-founders of Concerned Citizens of Orland Park, which waged a battle to stop the Main Place development, a 460,000-square-foot mall on 66 acres that has received preliminary approval from the Village Board. This is a first political run for both candidates.

"For me, it was an outgrowth of my work with Main Place and Concerned Citizens ... The feedback I have been getting is that people feel there is a need for change," Holton said.

Dodge said he was not surprised by the slate announcement or the issues candidates plan to emphasize. "Apparently, they have a magic wand they are going to wave and solve all of Orland Park's problems and stop all the traffic on La Grange Road, as compared to thoughtful management and long-range thinking," Dodge said.